Author
Topic: LEDs and Box Jades (Read 899 times)

I'm helping a friend out with a mechanical keyboard build, and she told me that she wanted clicky switches and red or blue LEDs. If I were to use Box Jades or similar box switch, how would the LED situation work? Are there any solutions that will allow the light to be seen through the keycap?Thanks!

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The Jian, also known as “the bird that shares wings,” only possesses one wing. Unless a male and female pair lean on each other and act as one, they’re incapable of flight. They’re imperfect, incomplete creatures, but for some reason, their way of life struck me as profoundly beautiful.

You need to solder the led's in before you solder the switches . Or as I have done it: put the led's in under the switch, insert the switches, solder the switches, then solder the led's. This way the led's will stay in place better, won't block the switch and it's easier to check if they won't interfere with the clickbar. I'll get a pic up in a second on how it looks with warm white led's. I used 1.8mm leds btw so I can guarantee you those will fit, not sure about others.

Here's how they look installed, they let through a lot of light so it doesn't look much different than on a regular switch. Don't have any transparent keycaps but the light should get through fine. :

The Jian, also known as “the bird that shares wings,” only possesses one wing. Unless a male and female pair lean on each other and act as one, they’re incapable of flight. They’re imperfect, incomplete creatures, but for some reason, their way of life struck me as profoundly beautiful.

Also, when soldering LEDs, you can solder one leg, reflow it and pull the other leg with a tweezer so you can ensure that it is straight and near the PCB as possible. This ensures that the tip of the LED won't reach the click bar regardless if it's a 1.8 or 2x3x4 (although 1.8 would be the safer choice here)

I think some people doesn't like the sound of the upstroke of BOX Jades as it feels like it's lagging behind because of the weaker springs compared to BOX Navys. Some say that by lubing the part of the stem that hits the clickbar remedies the issue, but I have not yet tried them personally. In reality, you can just easily type with these similar to other switches. It's just a matter of preference I think.